Isla Mujeres History

     Before tourism came to the coastal regions of Quintana Roo, chicle harvesting was one of the main industries that fueled the economy of the area for over half a century. Chicle was used in the manufacturing of chewing gum until the 1950's, and is a natural latex produced by the sapodilla tree to protect itself from insects and animals.      In 1898, Puerto Morales was established (20 miles south of present-day Cancun) to serve as an international port for shipping chicle (called Punta Corcha). At an inland jungle village west of the port, chiclero workers cooked the sap down into a white resin, molded it into bricks, and transported it to the coast in rail cars, drawn by horses or mules, for export to the United States. Another rail line brought the bricks of chicle to Puerto Juarez. (Isla Mujeres had been founded a half-century earlier in 1850.)      For centuries, the Maya extracted ch...

This is Part II of the interview with 80 year-old islander "Chocolate" Garrindo by historian Fidel Villanueva Madrid, original article in Spanish is below. HUNTING CROCODILES      Although crocodiles are a protected species today (as are sea turtles), for centuries they were a source of income for the inhabitants of this area. The price of the skins depended on the size of the catch. Perpetuo Socorro Garrido Tuz, better known as Chocolate, was a crocodile hunter for several years, in the Nizuc lagoon and its estuaries that are bordered by mangroves. Here are some of his experiences...       "Sometimes, to make a few more centavos, on dark nights we would go out hunting for crocodiles in the waters of Nichupté. We were in a chalana (small boat) being very stealthy. There were two of us, one rowing and moving the small boat forward, and another finding and harpooning the crocodiles. We took turns because sometimes luck was w...

In this article, eighty-year-old islander "El Chocolate" Garrido talks about his life to Isla Mujeres historian Fidel Villanueva Madrid. This is part I and a copy in Spanish is below.      Don Chocolate related his story while sitting in his wheelchair, remembering the days when he was a coprero, milpero, carbonero, artesano, marino naval, lagartero, and pescador. (Copreros work on coconut plantations, milperos are farmers, carboneros make charcoal, and he was an artesan, Naval sailor, crocodile hunter, and a fisherman.)      He is one of those pure blooded islanders who each day watches his community lose some of the charm that made it famous.He was born June 18, 1933 and his full name is Perpetuo Socorro Garrido Tuz. His parents were islanders who lived and worked on the coast as copreros. He was born with a midwife in attendance, between coconut palms. He says, "As soon as I learned to walk, I helped plant coconuts, prun...